You, Mon Cher, Need to Get Your Eyebrows Waxed
by Iceflight398
Summary: Francis is a college student, barely able to pay his bills by selling his art and working at Starbucks. One fateful day, he meets Arthur at his job (and, granted, gets off to a bad start). As a month races by, will they be able to face the challenges that await them and their loved ones? (Human AU) ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1: Emerald Eyes

**Rated M for language and violence in later chapters. But it'll probably be awhile before the violence and language. And it'll last for, maybe... three chapters?**

 **Also... there will be no _adult_ stuff... you know, those times where two people love each other very much...**

* * *

Francis Bonnefoy sighed, running his fingers through his long hair. His job at Starbucks was as mundane as ever. He would much rather be drawing, or making real cuisine. Francis wished he didn't have to work on Monday. Or any day, for that matter.

Unfortunately, he needed to make money in order to pay for college in America. Francis had come over from France because he had just been accepted by one of their best colleges, Eleanor Roosevelt University (ERU). It was one of the best opportunities he had had.

"Yao," He called to his coworker, "Mon cher. How many minutes until our shift is over? I want to go and draw the wonderful human body."

Francis's Chinese coworker glared at him.

"Aiya! I want to go draw too- just not the… you know… of course. But we need to work! Stop zoning out! Are you even listening to me?"

"He is so beautiful," The Frenchmen thought, smirking (and, indeed, not listening), "Such lovely, pale skin... Such beautiful, amber eyes... Such silky, long hair-"

"Oi!" Somebody shouted, interrupting Francis from his musings.

Blinking, Francis stared at the "somebody," who was his next customer.

"Oh mon dieu…" He thought, "What are those…?"

His new customer had what must have been the biggest eyebrows ever.

"You, mon cher, need to get your eyebrows waxed," Francis blurted out without thinking.

His customer turned bright red, his emerald green eyes glittering in outrage. He had golden punk-style hair, a black shirt with a skull on it, jeans, and a scarf with a UK-flag design.

"You bloody wanker!" Mr. Eyebrows yelled (in a very attractive British accent), "S-stupid frog!"

"S-" Francis began hurriedly.

"Shut it!" Sir Very-Lovely-Eyes snapped, "I'm bloody leaving!"

Angrily, the British man turned and marched out.

"Aiya!" Yao shouted as Emerald Eyes left, "Now look what you did! Boss will go ballistic when he hears!"

Francis sighed, "Yao…"

"What now, aru?" The Chinese man demanded irritably.

"The one who walked out… his eyes were very lovely, non?"

"Aiya!" Yao shouted again.

Then he whacked Francis in the face with his wok.

* * *

11/11/2016

It's 1:37 AM now…

Jesus.

Eleanor Roosevelt University is completely made up. No truth what so ever (I think… maybe another college does use this name…)

I have no idea where this story's going, or who's going to be included in it (other than 英国，法国，and 中国，of course. I might include 俄国 and 日本 in here too.)

Yes, I'm well aware not all of you can read Chinese (or maybe Japanese… many Japanese characters are copies of Chinese ones).

I just kinda feel like keeping you guys in suspense.

After all, who doesn't love a surprise?


	2. Chapter 2: Oh, Scheiß

Francis sighed as he reached the tiny apartment he shared with his two best friends, Gilbert and Antonio.

He felt exhausted.

Francis had ridden the subway home, and, when he sat down next to a drunk redhead man (there were no other seats) he had ended up with puke all over him. And the drunk man hadn't even had the decency to apologize! Instead, he'd shaved Francis to the floor, causing a couple of sniggers at Francis's bedraggled state.

His ears were still ringing from his boss's angry shouts. Francis's boss's angry red face swarmed in and out of his vision. Yao, a loyal friend as always, hadn't told their boss about the incident, but their boss figured it out anyways.

His boss really scared Francis sometimes.

The cold of the New York winter stung Francis, the wind tousling his hair. No stars could be seen in the heavens, despite the darkness of the moonless night.

"Amigo!" Antonio's cheerful voice called as Francis walked in, "I made dinner! Let's eat!"

Antonio had come from Spain, and was a wonderful cook. For some reason, though, Antonio seemed to have a weird obsession with tomatoes.

"Thank you," Francis muttered, sitting down at the old, wooden dinner table.

"What's wrong?" Gilbert, Francis's other friend, asked, charging in from the only other room, the bedroom that the three shared, "I mean, other the the fact that you stink and all."

Gilbert was from Germany (though for some reason, he had hung up a Prussian flag in his room), and had a pet chick named Gilbird.

Francis sighed, "Today, I met and lost the love of my life. And someone puked on me."

Gilbert groaned, slamming his head against the wall, "You say that about almost everyone! Er, the love-of-your-life part, not the puke part."

"No I d-"

"Your Chinese coworker-"

"I did not say that about Yao! See, the one I met today-"

"And Antonio's Mexican cousin-"

"All I did was flirt with her a bit! Then Antonio got all crazy and tried to murder me with an ax."

"You even declared your love for a goddamn iPhone!"

Francis sighed, "But my customer's eyes! I fell in love with them! They were emerald-"

Gilbert groaned, "You don't even know this guy, Francis! For all you know, he could be a serial killer."

"Fine," Francis grumbled, "But I will always remember his beautiful eyes!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes, "Let's just eat, okay?"

"Si!" Antonio beamed, "Let's!"

The three friends sat down on their rickety chairs, under the weak illumination of the light hanging on the ceiling.

Francis gave them a quick summary of what had transpired today at Starbucks. When he was done, Gilbert gave a low whistle.

"Man, you really know how to offend a guy," The German snickered, "And here I was, thinking you just 'lost' him because of your stink."

Francis scowled, "I only got puked on on the subway ride back home! I was smelling wonderfully when I met him."

Antonio frowned, "I think a might know this guy you met. His name's Arthur."

Francis shot up in his seat, "Really? That is wonderful news, my friend!" 

"He's one of my enemies," Antonio said flatly.

"Oh," Gilbert said, "Scheiß."

* * *

11/11/2016

Yay! Another chapter done, with a cameo from the BTT! Don't worry, this won't be the last you see of them.

Still have no idea where this story's going…


	3. Chapter 3: Everyone was Bloody Watching!

Francis walked into the beautiful library of the ERU.

Overhead, he arched ceiling soared above them. Bookshelves lined the walls, covered in elegant carvings and holding vaults of knowledge. In between each bookshelf lay two mahogany tables with carved chairs, and a giant glass window. The windows let in the brilliant morning light. Crystal chandeliers graced the arched ceiling towards the center.

As Antonio had said predicted, Emerald Eyes/Arthur was sitting in one of the tables.

Sunlight shone in from the windows, lighting up his golden hair. He looked like an angel, with his beautiful face and elegant posture.

Next to him lay a stack of papers that could rival Mount Everest. Arthur was bent over one sheet of papers, his thick eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"You know," Gilbert said dryly, "This was a stupid move."

Francis gaped at him, shocked out of his reverie.

Gilbert rolled his eyes, "Antonio hates this guy with a passion. You just seriously pissed of Antonio- for a guy you're probably going to dump in a month. Plus, he might not be gay."

"I-" Francis began, trying to defend himself.

"Forget it. You literally have had zero serious relationships, for all your mumbo-jumbo about love. I've never believed any of that junk for an instant, yet here I am, committed to a relationship with Elizabeta-"

"Shh!" The librarian hissed, shushing Gil.

Gilbert glared at Francis, "Just make sure you're sure of what you're doing here."

Francis smirked, "Please. Love is my specialty."

Gilbert snorted.

Francis sashayed over to where Emerald Eyes was sitting.

"Bonjour," He said, leaning down and giving his most enchanting smile.

Emerald Eyes shot up, and stared at Francis. His expression transformed from slight annoyance to surprise to anger in a matter of seconds.

"You." He hissed.

Francis smiled, "Yes, beautiful, it is me. About the incident at Starbucks-"

"Go to hell!" Arthur snapped.

"Please, mon cher-"

"Go screw yourself!"

"Well, actually I h-"

"Forget it, you bloody wanker! Just go away! What are you doing here anyways?"

"Excuse me, I go here!"

"Really? I didn't think you were smart enough!" 

"I'll have you know, I am a magnificent drawer!"

"Yeah, right."

"Well what can you do?'

"I have a wonderful voice! And I am an excellent writer-"

"My voice sounds hotter than yours!"

"Stupid frog!"

"And I speak French!"

"I can speak French too! And Scottish Gaelic! And Cantonese! And Mandarin-"

"Actually, you can't," Yao interrupted.

Francis gaped at him, "When did you get here?"

Arthur scowled, "And what do you mean I can't?"

Yao sighed, looking exasperated. His 18-year-old adoptive younger brother, Kiku, stood behind him, looking awkward.

"To answer your question, Francis, I have been watching you two morons arguing for the past few minutes- and so have the rest of the people here."

True enough, many of the occupants of the library were staring at them. When they realized that Francis and Arthur had noticed that, they hurriedly averted their eyes.

Arthur flushed.

"And to answer your question, Arthur, you cannot speak Cantonese or Mandarin. Your pronunciation and grammar is horrible. I would know, I speak both languages. Plus, I've lived in both Hong Kong and China!"

Arthur huffed in annoyance, "Fine."

Then he turned to Francis, "But I am still more talented than you, frog!"

Francis glared at Arthur, "Absolutely not!"

"Yes!"

"Non!"

"Yes!"

"Non!"

"Yes!"

"Non!"

"Yes!"

"Non!"

As Francis glared Arthur down, he realized several things. First, Kiku was snapping pictures of them. Second, his face was only a few centimeters away from Arthur's. Third, Arthur's eyes were not simply emerald-colored. They flickered with different shades of green, shining forest and spring and olive green.

"Just kiss already!" Gilbert cackled.

Arthur turned bright red.

Francis, remembering that he was here to ask Arthur on a date, frantically said, "Mon cher, I am very sorry about that incident at Starbucks. Your eyebrows looks amazingly hot. How would you like to go to dinner with me?"

Arthur stared at him.

"You should go to my Chinese restaurant!" Yao announced, "Wonderful food for a date! Much better and more filling than Western junk!"

Yao did work at a Chinese restaurant, along with a part-time job at Starbucks. He was also studying to be a surgeon, taking an art class, and raising six younger siblings (their parents had left), five of whom were teenagers.

Francis was sometimes amazed Yao was still standing.

Arthur glared at Francis suspiciously, "This isn't a you know… date… is it?"

Francis smiled, "Not unless you want it to be-"

"Well, then it won't be! It's not like… I mean… I just want to practice my French!" 

Francis's smile deepened, "This Saturday, at the lovely Dominique's Kitchen?"

He ignored Yao's wail of protest at choosing a French-Italian restaurant.

"Fine," Arthur grumbled, "Remember, I only want to practice my French."

"But of course, mon cher."

* * *

11/12/2016

Another chapter completed! I've also decided this story is going to take a dark turn…

Do you hear that sound?

That's the sound of my manic laughter.


	4. Chapter 4: Western Devil

"Western devil!" Yao shouted, waking Francis up from his daydreams of green eyes and blond hair.

"Oui?"

"This is the fiftieth time you've zoned out! After Monday's incident, any more of this might get you fired!"

"But Yao! That was four days ago! And I cannot stop thinking about my one true love-"

"废话," Yao snapped.

Francis blinked, "Pardon?"

"You know this isn't going to last."

"I've been told that enough already," Francis groused, "What's the harm?"

"What's the harm?" Yao shouted, his voice like a roaring tiger. He glared at Francis with fury, eyes burning with rage. Several of the customers jumped, startled, and glancing at Yao in worry.

Kiku, who was sitting in a chair near the cash register, looked at Yao in alarm. In the same table as him sat the rest of Yao's younger siblings. There was Yong Soo and Hyung Soo, a pair of 13-year-old Korean twins whom Yao had adopted. Mei, Andre, and Leon were Yao's blood siblings. Mei and Li Xiang were 10, while Cheng was 11.

"Aniki!" Yong Soo (who was extremely attached to Yao) whined, "What's wrong?"

Yao scowled, "Nothing, Yong Soo. Do you want more food?" 

"Yeah," Mei coursed in, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Yao repeated forcibly.

Mei and Yong Soo pouted.

Yao rubbed his forehead, putting on a faux smile as another customer came in.

"Hello, may I take your order?"

The customer, a tall man with eerie violet eyes, beamed at Yao in delight.

"Pryvet, comrade!" He giggled, "You look pretty!" 

Yao reddened, "Shu- I mean- aiya- Gah! I'm a man!"

The new customer giggled again, "Then you are a very pretty man!"

He pulled a sunflower out of the long beige coat he was wearing, and handed it to Yao.

"Here! For you!" 

Yao gaped at him, "Uh… 我..."

Then he quickly recovered, perhaps from all his practice with having to deal with Francis's flirting.

"What would you like? Hurry up, I don't have all day."

"Your phone number!" 

"啥?" Yao shrieked.

Kiku was taking pictures, and Mei was staring at the two intensely. Yong Soo looked like he was ready to smack someone. Andre had an indecipherable smile on, while Hyung Soo and Leon watched on with detached interest.

Francis was smirking as he watched the Yao and the tall stranger.

"This will be interesting," He thought, before letting his thoughts wander back to Arthur.

He wondered why Yao had looked so angry on Arthur's behalf. Francis had been under the impression (from things Leon told him) that Yao wasn't too fond of Arthur.

Francis had known Yao for about a year. During all that time, never had he seen Yao look so angry at him being fickle in relationships.

Was there something he didn't know?

Instinct told him that Arthur was interested in men, and his "amor instinct" (as he dubbed it) rarely lied. So what the big deal? They were young, and they could have some fun. Maybe Yao was too traditional.

But that didn't make sense either. After all, Yao had never raised protest to Francis's many flings.

It simply didn't make sense.

"臭老外!" Yao yelled at him, snapping Francis from his musings, "Our shift's over! And you did absolutely nothing. I took every single 该死的 customer for you! At this rate, you'll be fired in a week!"

Yao was standing in front of Francis, in regular clothes. His younger siblings were gathered behind him, occasionally peering at Francis with expression ranging from disgust to annoyance to indifference.

Francis tried for a winning smile.

It didn't work.

Ah, well. Points for effort.

"I'm sorry, Yao. Thank you for covering for me."

"You're welcome," Yao said, "It's fine, really. Of course, you still need to give me some of your pay-"

"I'll give you all of it," Francis said quickly, "Really, thank you, Yao. It was very kind of you."

Yao smiled, "没有问题. And don't worry, I didn't tell boss."

"I did," Hyung Soo announced.

The group fell dead silent.

"Why did you do that?" Mei finally wailed, "Now Mr. Francis will get in trouble!" 

"He should have been working," Hyung Soo said stubbornly, "It wasn't fair of him to make Yao-hyung do all that work."

Francis winced at the reminder.

Yao rubbed his head, "Alright, alright. We'll sort this out tomorrow. Want to have dinner with us, Francis?"

Francis nodded, smiling gratefully, "Sure. I'll tell my friends."

Yao nodded, "Okay. We can walk to my home, it isn't far."

Pulling out his phone and hurriedly writing his text, Francis quickly went into the changing room and changed out of his uniform. Walking back out, he saw that Yao's family was waiting at the door.

Hyung Soo scowled at him.

Francis gave his most charming smile, but not even that worked.

"Well," Yao said, "Let's go."

* * *

11/15/2016

Another chapter done! I might be able to finish this thing in a couple of months!

Hyung Soo is a name for North Korea, and Andre is the name for Macau. I intend for his Chinese name (the one his family will likely use) to be Cheng. Hong Kong's Chinese name will be Li Xiang (it kinda sounds like his English name to me when I say it using Chinese pronunciation. Or I might be just going crazy).

I got the "western devil" nickname idea from reading Countryball comics. Yes, I know, I'm turning traitor. Forgive me.

Thank you to Ima cat ****** and the guest who reviewed! 

I'm glad that you're intrigued, Ima cat ******.

And to the guest… yeah… I have dark and violent thoughts…

To those who favorited and followed this: 谢谢你们! It makes me really happy!

I have a social studies quiz (I need to memorize the location and spelling of all the countries in the middle east!) and a bigger test for a private school coming up, so I might not be able to update as much.

When I finish the entire story, I intend to go back over it and revise, then I'll mark it complete. I recommend that you read it again after I do the final edits. I will also try to constantly edit and revise chapters, so some details might not match up from what you remember.

I'm really sorry about that. 请原谅我!

For the Chinese:

废话 (pinyin: fei hua) means… uh… I don't know a good way to say it in English… it kinda means "nonsense…"

Go to this link, and you might get a better idea:

我 (pinyin: wo) means "I"

啥? (pinyin: sha?) means "what?"

臭老外 (pinyin: chou lao wai) means "stinking foreigner" or "foreign pig" 老外 (pinyin: lao wai), the part of the phrase that means "foreigner" is used as a derogatory term in China.

该死的 (pinyin: gai si de) means "god damn" or "stinking."

没有问题 (pinyin: mei you wen ti) means "no problem."


	5. Chapter 5: Just Remember

Francis sat in Yao's meager living room, rubbing his stomach in contentment.

The living room was tightly packed, with two small worn sofas, a frayed rug, and an ancient TV.

He and Yao were sitting on a rose-colored sofa. The TV was blasting some show in Chinese (the entire family knew Chinese). The show had bad effects, and things that slightly resembled fairies, but Mei (who was eagerly watching it while laying on the rug) had insisted upon it. Her brothers were either too lazy, too fond of her, or too weak to argue.

Leon was reading manga on the floor, and Andre was drinking tea. Francis had no idea why Andre was so obsessed with tea. To tell the truth, he couldn't really understand any of Yao's siblings.

Kiku was sitting on the other sofa, in between Yong Soo and Hyung Soo, who were trying to murder each other. After all, what are brothers for?

"Ah, your food is as delicious as ever, mon cher," Francis said with a satisfied smile.

Yao scowled, "Don't call me that."

"Of course," Francis said, grinning, "Now that you have-"

"No!" Yao shouted, "I- he- I don't even know his name!"

"It's love," Francis insisted.

Yao glared at him, "You can't be in love with someone whose name you don't know and you've only just met."

"And there go half of the Disney movies," Leon muttered.

Yong Soo snickered.

"You put the sunflower he gave you in a vase as soon as you got home," Mei reminded Yao.

"Yes- but-" Yao spluttered, "I just- I mean- it looked nice, that's all!"

Sure enough, the mystery man's flower was sitting on the dining table in the adjoining room. It was displayed in a lovely Chinese-style vase, and added a bright splash of color to the worn-down kitchen.

The fairy show ended as credits (coupled with bad closing animation) rolled on. Mei groaned in disappointment and fell back dramatically, while Leon and Yong Soo cheered.

"The remotes mine!" Leon hissed, lunging forwards to grab it.

"No!" Mei wailed, "I don't want to watch your violent junk!"

"My violent junk?" Leon demanded "My 'violent junk' is way better than your dumb fairy show! And vampires don't sparkle!"

"How dare you insult Edward-senpai!" Mei shrieked, "Kiku!" 

"Mei-chan," Kiku reprimanded gently, "It is Li Xiang's turn."

Mei bit her lip, and did her most adorable face, her eyes round and innocent. If Francis had been Kiku, he would have lost to her. Apparently, though, the face was old news to Kiku.

"Let's watch Sword Art Online!" Yong Soo shouted as Leon surfed through the channels, landing on said anime.

"No!" Yao shrieked, "That show has-"

Leon rolled his eyes, "We're not babies."

Yao scowled.

"Okay!" Mei squeaked, "Let's watch it then!"

Yao sighed, shaking his head and grumbling in Chinese.

Then, turning to Francis and lowering his voice to a slight whisper, he said, "You know, Francis, on the subject of relationships…"

"Yes," Francis whispered back, "About Arthur. Look, I know I kind of sounded like a jerk, but I'll be-"

"But will you really?" Yao asked softly.

"Of course I will!" Francis protested.

Yao stared at him disbelievingly.

"It might not last but-" Francis began, feeling nervous. Yao only got this way when things were really bad.

"But?" Yao said, his eyes flashing angrily, "How can you be so sure things will be okay if you end up treating his heart like a doormat?"

"I-"

"Do you expect that just because all the others survived?"

Francis bit his lip.

Yao sighed sadly, "People are different, Francis. Some handle things worse than others. That doesn't make them a lesser person, of course, it just makes them different. Arthur… things have happened to him, Francis. His-"

Yao cut off suddenly, glancing at Kiku.

He sighed, "It's not my place to tell you, Francis. Just remember, your actions can have consequences. Consequences that can change other people- forever."

* * *

11/17/2016

Kesesese! Things are starting to get intense!

I know I kinda hinted at IggyPan here, but there will be none of that! Not even past IggyPan!

Also, I'm not planning on killing anyone in this story…

Bwahahahahahaha!


	6. Chapter 6: Tu ressembles à un ange

Francis swallowed, standing in front of Dominique's Kitchen, wearing a second-hand suit from his father.

The night sky held a bright full moon. Snowflakes danced in the air, before falling to join the white carpet marked with footprints of many sizes.

For what must have been the first time since he was 13, Francis felt nervous about going on a date. He still remembered yesterday night, where Yao had delivered his ominous warning. As the snow fell around him, Francis slowly fell back into his memories.

After Yao's warning, the Chinese man had sent all of the younger children to bed, except for Kiku. The three had sat in silence, Yao ignoring him, and Francis trying to process what Yao had said.

Then, Francis's phone had rung. It had been Antonio, calling to announce yet another disaster in their shared apartment. Francis had insisted that Yao and Kiku need not worry, before rushing back home to a rather… unwelcome sight.

The Frenchmen was shaken back to the present by a sudden sharp, stinging pain in his shin.

"Ow!" Francis yelped, realizing that he had been kicked, "C'est quoi ce bordel-"

He stopped, realizing that Arthur was standing in front of him. He dressed elegantly in a black suit, his hair neat and eyes flashing with annoyance.

"Bonjour," The Englishman snapped.

"Did you have to kick me in the shins?" Francis grumbled.

Arthur scowled, 'Let's get this damn d- er, platonic meal over with."

Francis smiled, but inside, he felt worried. Originally, he had just assumed Arthur was just tsundere… but now, especially after Yao's warning…

"Well," Francis said, offering Arthur his arm, "Let us go in, mon cher."

Arthur smacked him.

"Ah, well," Francis thought, rubbing his sore head, "Perhaps we will get along better later."

Inside, the room was lit by a yellow light. Against the wall, there were adjoined red-cushioned chairs. Polished dark wooden tables held tall wine glasses and elegant silverware. There was a bar area, displaying multiple fine wines.

The place reeked of elegance and class, with paintings and well-dressed people dining primly.

Francis suddenly had a flash of panic about how much it would cost.

Apparently noticing the worry on his face, Arthur said, "Don't worry, frog. I'll pay."

Francis smiled gratefully. He and his two best friends were barely scraping by with what they had, and he didn't want to make them more mad by spending too much money on a date.

Inside, an usher gestured them to their seat, promising that a waiter would be there shortly.

Their table was in the center of the room. The chairs had beautiful carvings on them, and the silverware looked antique.

Their waitress, a young Asian girl, arrived within 2 minutes.

"That was quick," Arthur said, looking surprised.

"We're not too busy today," She replied, smiling, "And we have a lot of extra waiters. Our boss offered bonus money for whoever came on extra days."

"Are you short on money for college?" Francis asked.

"Oh, no," She said, "My parents pay it all. I just wanted to earn some extra money. I would have preferred working at a Chinese restaurant, but I couldn't find any."

Francis nodded. It was typical of Asian parents to pay their kids college fees.

He scanned over the menu, while trying to make conversation with this girl. After all, it wouldn't do for her to be bored by the great Francis.

"So, where were you born?"

The girl instantly looked irritated.

"Tanzania," She said sarcastically.

Arthur blinked, "Really? Your English is good."

She shook her head angrily, "Gah! That was sarcasm, dumb lobsterback! I was born in America! Can't you tell by my accent? Why do people keep assuming I'm from another Asia? Everyone in the States is either an immigrant or descended from one! Even the white guys! Do I ever ask if a white guy is from Europe? No. Then why do you people ask me these dumb questions?"

"Er, sorry," Francis mumbled. That had clearly been the wrong question.

The girl as now scowling, glaring at him as he looked through the menu.

She had changed from happy and polite to furious in a matter of seconds. For some reason, a lot of people tended to do that around Francis.

Francis listed off their order, after he and Arthur had agreed on it. The girl stomped off, muttering things about stupid white guys under her breath.

"Well, that went well," Arthur muttered.

Francis chuckled.

"What is it you like to do?" He asked.

"Oh," Arthur said, "I adore literature. Shakespeare's works are my favorite."

"What about Romeo and Juliet?" Francis asked.

"Well, I think it's a cautionary tale."

"Absolutely not! It is a tragedy about young love cut short by hatred!"

"They were 13 and 16."

"Age doesn't matter in love!"

"It lasted less than a week."

"Because it was tragically cut short!" Francis stood up dramatically, "Love is the most beautiful emotion a human can feel! Romeo and Juliet, rather than living without each other, chose to die together! Their love was so powerful that they were willing to follow each other into death!

"This proves that love can fill up your life with wonder. Love can push you to new limits. It is love that pushed people to fight for legal marriage regardless of race or sexuality. It is love that pushes parents to protect their children. Without love, this world would be void of joy, just like the lives of Romeo and Juliet would have been without each other!"

As Francis's monologue finished, he noticed two things.

First, Arthur was smiling at him. A real, genuine smile. His eyes were shining, his face gentle and free of anger or stress. The light seemed to focus on him, lighting him up like a piece of Michelangelo's work.

"Tu ressembles à un ange," Francis whispered softly.

And the second thing Francis noticed?

It was that the entire restaurant was staring at him.

* * *

11/23/2016

Finally! We have reached Surrender Monkey and Eyebrow's first date! After 5 chapters of messing around!

I just finished my big test yesterday (on Tuesday) and I was feeling really worn out so I didn't write any new chapters.

I didn't write anything on Sunday and Monday either because of was studying.

For those of you who care (probably 0% of you) the test is for applying to a private school. I'm having my interview in 3 weeks (December 22) and I'm really nervous! Any helpful advice?

My description of Delmonico's is based on Google Images and a passage I read in English class, so don't judge me if my description is way off!

The waitress featured this chapter is… drumroll please… no one! Just someone I made up.

Her rant in the chapter is pretty true. Everyone in America is either an immigrant or descended from one (the great American melting pot!)

It is very annoying for me (as a Chinese American) to constantly get asked whether or not I was born in America. Sure, I speak Chinese, but a bunch of Americans are bilingual due to their heritage, which I think is one of the coolest things about my awesome country!

Anyways, I'm not sure other Asian Americans feel about this, but it really irritates me. On a side note, Off the Great Wall made a great video about other questions Asians hate! You should watch it, it's very funny (and it teaches you how to be less annoying). They didn't pay me to advertise this, I swear! On my honor and GPA!


	7. Chapter 7: I'm not like him

People had finally stopped staring after Francis's monologue, and their waitress had returned with Bouillabaisse.

Arthur, while eating, had begun to talk about literature.

Francis couldn't help but notice how Arthur's eyes lit up as he spoke about his favorite authors. He spoke articulately, with wit. Arthur had clearly given a lot of thought unto the matter.

By the time their waitress had returned (with escargots), Francis was feeling a deep admiration for Arthur's intelligence. He had always appreciated the arts, and seeing Arthur speak so passionately about literature was fascinating.

"Miss?" Arthur asked, "Might I inquire what your name is."

She smiled, apparently having put the earlier incident behind them, "It is Yang Liu using western order. You can call me Yang."

"Of course, Miss Yang. Thank you very much," Arthur said sincerely.

Yang giggled, "Oh… uh… it's no problem."

"Really," Arthur insisted, "Thank you for serving us."

Yang beamed and skipped off.

Francis felt impressed that Arthur was so polite to her. In his career as a Starbucks worker and waiter, he had seen many times how customers would treat their servers impolitely. It had been a constant thorn in his side.

"This food is delicious, non?" Francis asked.

"Yes," Arthur replied, smiling slightly, "It certainly is. You know the best part?"

"What is it?"

"That people have stopped staring at us."

Francis smiled.

"You must admit, I have a lovely voice."

"You do… in your dreams!"

Francis shook his head, laughing, "You're just in denial! My voice is that of a heavenly chorus!"

Arthur chuckled.

A timid cough sounded.

"Excuse me… your mushroom risotto has arrived," Yang said softly. 

"Ah!" Arthur said, "Thank you very much, miss!"

Yang smiled, "You're welcome."

She paused.

"Forgive me," She said shyly, "But may I ask if you two are on a… er… date?"

The two were silent for a moment.

"Well," Francis said smiling, "Of course we are-"

"No!" Arthur shouted, his eyes wide with what looked like… fear?

For the second time that night, the entire restaurant turned to stare at them.

Yang looked flustered, "I apologize for intruding. I'll-"

"We are not on a date," Arthur repeated angrily, standing up, his eyes blazing with intensity.

"Sir-" Yang began nervously, backing away.

"Arthur-" Francis said, trying to place his hand on the other man's arm.

"No!" Arthur yelled, "This whole bloody thing… what was I thinking?"

Francis felt like he had been slapped.

"Mon cher-"

"Don't call me that!" Arthur screamed, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks.

"Please-"

"I'm not… not…"

"It's perfectly fine if you are," Yang said, her face pale, "Everyone's different and-"

"Shut up," Arthur hissed, as more and more tears escaped from his eyes, "I… I'm sorry!" 

"Arthur," Francis's voice cracked, "Yang's right. It's okay whether you like men or-"

"Please," Arthur said weakly, his voice dropping to a whisper, "You- I- father-"

"I can help you deal with him." Francis pleaded, "It's okay-"

"No, it's not!" Arthur shouted, his green eyes full of anguish. Seeing him that way broke Francis's heart.

"I… God, my little… gone…"

"It's okay to be attracted to men-"

"I'm not!" Arthur screamed, smashing the table so hard that it flipped over, "I'm not like Al-"

Then he stopped, his face whitening.

"I'm not," Arthur repeated in a whisper, his voice was weary and sad.

Arthur's emerald green eyes met with Francis's violet blue ones.

Then he sprinted out of the restroom, leaving an overturned table and a shocked crowd in his wake.

* * *

11/27/2016

Ah… a disastrous end to a first date.

I'm planning for there to be RoChu fluff in the next chapter, though!

It was kinda hard for me to write the dining part of the story, since I have no clue about Western meal customs. I Googled it… but then, despite my perfect score in math, it was too confusing for me. Aiya. Stupid Westerners.

I just randomly Googled French and Italian dishes for the dish names. In truth, I have no clue for them.

If you can correct me about the Western meal customs, then feel free to! Just please be nice about it.

About the whole "nice to waiter" part, I've noticed that people can be jerks to waiters sometimes. My dad once called one over to complain excessively about the food, which really grated at me.

Surely one can spare a little extra effort to be kind and polite to the ones serving them food.


	8. Chapter 8: Grief and Hope

Francis trudged in the soft snow, alone. After apologizing to the manager and convincing him that it wasn't Yang's fault, Francis had barely managed to pay the bill.

He had no desire to return to his apartment, where Antonio and Gilbert would be awaiting him. They would no doubt berate him for being such a fool, for being so careless, for spending so much money.

Christmas decorations already adorned the lamp posts, casting colorful lights. It would be Christmas in a couple of weeks, and his fellow ERU students were excited at the prospect of break. They had all been chatting excitedly about seeing their families, but Francis knew that he could not afford the plane ticket back to France.

Before he met Arthur, Francis had been planning to spend Christmas break messing around with his best friends and bothering Yao. Now, he had no idea what to do.

All his friends would be upset with him if they heard what had happened today, and Arthur was so clearly unhappy. After getting to know the Brit, Francis had seen that he was more than a pretty face. He was kind, intelligent, and hurt.

"What do I do?" Francis whispered to the swirling snow.

It gave no reply other than silence.

People were walking the streets together, shopping and laughing. Couples held each other tightly, and children clung onto their parents' sleeves.

"What do I do?" Francis whispered, "What do I do?"

An startled yelp and a sudden impact shocked Francis out of his deep thought.

He fell backwards into the snow, landing not-so-gracefully on his butt.

"Idiot!" A familiar voice shouted.

Blinking, Francis looked up, only to see an angry Hyung Soo glaring at him. On the ground next to him was Andre, minus one pair of glasses.

"You knocked Cheng over! Stupid clumsy pig-"

"It's fine," Cheng said softly.

The young Chinese boy relocated his glasses and put them back on. Hyung Soo looked like he wanted to further press the matter, but Andre/Cheng scrambled up and placed a placating hand on his older brother's arm.

"Please," Andre said, "It's the holiday season."

Hyung Soo scowled and stomped off.

Andre smiled at Francis, reaching out a hand to help him up. Francis accepted it gratefully, pulling himself back up. He dusted the powdery snow from his old suit.

"Are you okay, Mister Francis?" Andre asked.

"I'm fine," Francis said, trying to keep his emotions from showing.

Andre, being very perceptive, frowned.

"I'll go find _ge-ge_ ," He announced.

"Wait-" Francis yelped.

But the boy had already darted off.

Francis groaned. He sat on a nearby bench and held his head in his hands. Francis did not want to face Yao, especially after what had happened with Arthur.

"Yao was right."

"I was," An almost feminine voice said.

Francis looked up in alarm. Ya was standing in front of him, his tiny figure drowning in a patched-up old coat. His thick hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, and his amber eyes were a mixture of many emotions. Snowflakes swirled around him, falling into his dark hair.

The Chinese man sat down beside Francis, sighing.

"I was speaking out loud?" Francis asked, confused.

"Yes," Yao said flatly, "You were."

"Arthur-"

"It didn't go well, did it?"

Francis shook his head, unable to form words. His throat felt clogged up with worry and regret. His eyes stung, tears threatening to form.

Yao sighed softly, "Francis, I know you are used to people being open about their sexuality. Gilbert has an "I am a bisexual" t-shirt, and Antonio constantly makes out with his Italian boyfriend in public. But some people… they're afraid. Afraid of what their parents might think. Afraid of what their friends might think. Afraid of what society might think."

"But…" Francis said weakly, "If their friends and parents don't accept them, couldn't they just cut off their ties? And society… it's getting better, isn't it?"

Yao smiled sadly, "Ah, if the world was that simple. If the people who hurt you were easy to push away. Sometimes the people that hurt you the most are the ones closest to your heart, Francis. And it is so, so hard to push them away."

Francis whimpered, tears starting to come out of his tired eyes.

"People are conditioned to think things. By the society that they live in, the religion they practice, their own family. And Arthur's father… he is very unaccepting. Arthur is scared, Francis. I know him. He wants to please his father, but… with his sexuality…"

"He's really kind," Francis sobbed, Yao's warm hands rubbing soothing circles on his back, "It may not seem like it at first, but I think he really is. And he's so intelligent and well-spoken, I just can't bear the idea of-"

Francis's voice broke. He leaned against Yao and bawled freely. It was all so sudden. Over the course of less than a week, his closest friends were upset with him, he had spent a month's worth of hard-earned rent money, and he had met a beautiful, kind human being.

And that beautiful, kind human being was closeted and broken.

He barely noticed a tall figure walking up, violet eyes worried.

Francis felt like he was underwater as Yao spoke to the violet-eyed man.

He finally managed to control his sobs, as the tall man's gloved hand reached down and helped him up.

"Yao-yao," The tall man whispered, "Will the nice man be okay?"

Yao's eyes were sad as he watched Francis. The next words he spoke were for Francis just as much as they were for the tall man.

"The world is turbulent and full of grief. There are things we cannot predict, and tears will fall. Even in the darkest hour, there is hope. And with hope, healing is possible."

* * *

11/25/2016

And… no RoChu fluff.

Okay, maybe there kinda is. But only if you really, really, squint.

I need to stop making these promises.


	9. Chapter 9: Giant Freaking Nostrils

Giant nostrils.

That was the first thing Francis registered as he woke up. Screaming, he flailed his arms wildly, as laughter began to fill the room.

The nostrils moved back (thank goodness) and was replaced by the face of Yong Soo.

"Wow!" The Korean boy cackled, "You totally freaked out!"

"Like, totally," Leon agreed, walking into Francis's field of vision.

Francis, slowly registering his surrounding, realized that he was laying on Yao's ancient red couch, a blanket tucked over him. His shoes, tie, and jacket had been taken off.

"Urrf," Francis said, demonstrating his skill and fluency at the English language.

"Don't you wish we had videotaped that, Li Xiang?" Yong Soo continued.

Leon (a.k.a. Li Xiang) nodded.

"Yong Soo! Li Xiang!" Yao shouted, marching in, "What the hell are you two doing? I'll-"

He broke off abruptly, noticing for the first time that Francis was awake.

"Hi," Francis said awkwardly, pushing himself up, "How long was I asleep?"

"You slept like a rock for 12 hours!" Yong Soo laughed, "Li Xiang and I tried to see how many pencils we could fit in your nostrils. We got five in one nostril, and you didn't even wake up! Then Kiku came in and got all annoyed with us-"

"'Be more respectful,'" Leon mimicked, "'Do not bring dishonor upon us.' 'Guests must be treated with utmost respect.'"

"So then we blasted Gangnam Style really loudly, but we woke up Ivan-"

"Ivan's the tall guy," Leon supplied, "The one with, like, weird purple eyes."

"And he got really intimidating, and Aniki came in, and he kicked all three of us out! Said something about community service. We went to Starbucks-"

"What?" Yao screeched, "Ivan! Come ov-"

Almost instantaneously, Ivan was there, his arms wrapped around Yao.

Yao wriggled away from his grasp, and glared at Ivan.

"I told you to take the boys to go do some community service!" Yao scolded, "And you take them to Starbucks?"

Ivan hung his head.

The scene was almost comical. Ivan, dwarfing Yao by more than a head, now looked like a kicked puppy in front of the slight Chinese man.

"Yao-yao," Ivan whined, "Please-"

"Someday," Yao snapped, "They need to grow up. And that means they need to stop doing ridiculous things and learn to take responsibility! Since you're another adult living here now-"

"Question," Francis interrupted, "Last time I checked you two had just met. Now it feels like you've been having a steady relationship for several months."

Yao turned bright red, "Aiya! I-it's nothing like that! I-I just-"

"After Ge-ge kicked you out," Li Xiang began, "Ivan, like, came over-"

"He used Natalya to find our place!" Yong Soo announced eagerly.

"Natalya? I really have missed a lot."

"Ivan's younger sister," Leon explained, "She's like a stalker app. And Yong Soo has a crush on her."

Upon hearing those words, a dark aura immediately surrounded Ivan. The temperature felt like it was dropping. Francis's heart sped up.

Then Yao smacked Ivan.

"Aiya! Enough!"

Francis stared at Yao, gaping. He never would have had the courage to smack such a tall and intimidating figure in the face. And yet Yao didn't seem to be worried or afraid. On the contrary, he looked annoyed.

Ivan looked dejected, before sulking out of the room.

"So, anyways," Leon continued, looking pale, "He came over with, like, a truckload of sunflowers. Ge-ge freaked, and he almost threw Ivan out. But then he looked, like, super sad, so Ge-ge let him stay."

"Ah," Francis said, grinning "Lovely. The next step is marriage."

Yong Soo burst out laughing, while Li Xiang kept his neutral face on. Yao's face was the color of a ripe cherry.

"We're not- I mean-" Yao stammered, blushing furiously.

"Yes, you are!" Mei shouted, charging in, "I ship you two!"

Yao looked utterly perplexed.

"Sh-ship? As in boats? Or FedEx? Kiku! Where are you? Help!"

There was a moment of silence, before Kiku calmly walked into the living room. He was dressed in traditional Japanese robes and slippers.

"You, called, nii-san?"

"Mei wants to be a truck driver! Or sailor!"

Kiku blinked, "E-excuse me?"

"She's talking about how she 'ships' something!"

Kiku flushed, "A-ah. I see."

Yao narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Is there something I'm unaware of?"

"Er…"

Yao's expression transformed from one of suspicion to one of hurt.

"How could you keep something from me?" Yao wailed.

"Nii-san-"

"I trusted you to take care of them!"

"I-"

"And yet you now keep secrets from me!"

"Please-"

"How could you do this? 'Shipping' could have something to do with drugs!"

"It-"

"Why?" Yao howled, voice full hurt and disappointment, before running from the room.

"Nii-san!" Kiku shouted, before running after him.

A moment of silence passed after the two brothers' dramatic exit.

Finally, Leon said with an eyeroll, "Now look what you've done, Mei."

"It wasn't my fault!" Mei protested, "Who knew he'd freak out this much?"

"Why is Yao-hyung so upset?" Hyung Soo demanded, storming in with Andre trailing behind him.

"It was Kiku and Mei's fault!" Yong Soo shouted.

"Really?" Andre said softly.

"Like, yeah," Leon said.

"Hmm."

"Speaking of shipping," Mei said, turning to Francis with a smirk, "How was your date?"

Francis winced.

"It went badly," Hyung Soo snapped, looking annoyed.

"How do you know?" Mei asked.

"Because he showed up at our apartment at 10:00 PM in a suit looking like a corpse!" Hyung Soo shouted, "Stop asking these redundant questions!"

"They're not redundant!" Mei whined, "Kiku!"

"Mei," Andre scolded.

Mei pouted.

"It's fine," Francis muttered, "The date… it…"

"Why aren't you chasing after him?" Mei demanded, glaring at Francis, "You were obsessing over him for four days-"

"He's always like this," Hyung Soo grumbled.

"Come on," Mei insisted, "There's no way you'd be this sad over a fling. You have to. Didn't you always say that one should never give up on love? Well, you might have a real shot at it now! Both life and love are both filled with challenges, but that's what makes it so rewarding! If you give up now, imagine the regret and pain that it will leave in your heart! If nothing else, Francis-ge-ge, at least try!"

Francis looked at her, feeling kind of alarmed. He had always imagined Mei as the type not to be able to string two sentences together without squealing. And yet here she was, educating him on love, which was supposed to be his specialty.

"Yes," Francis murmured softly, "I will go talk to him."

"Who are we talking about again?"

"Yong Soo!" Hyung Soo shouted.

"Sorry," Yong Soo muttered.

"We're, like, talking about an Arthur guy, right?" Leon said in an indifferent tone.

"Yes," Andre nodded, "Arthur-?"

"Kirkland," Francis supplied.

The mood in the room immediately changed.

"K-kirkland?" Yong Soo stammered, his face devoid of color, "Don't tell me-"

"It is," Leo confirmed, traces of emotion finally showing on his face. His eyes were wide, and he looked deathly white, "It has to be."

"Forget what Mei just said," Hyung Soo told Francis, his eyebrows furrowed and his face pale, "Just give up. It'll be better for both of you."

"Wha-?"

Andre smiled at him sympathetically, with a hint of sorrow in his eyes, "Things are complicated, and-"

"Oh mon Dieu!" Francis shouted abruptly, finally unable to deal with all the secrecy, "Will one of you stinking Wangs just tell me what is going on already? What the hell happened with Arthur? Did he and Kiku-"

"No!" Mei yelped, "Well- actually- it sorta does have something to do with Kiku, but that's not the point-"

"The point is that you should give up!" Hyung Soo shouted.

"No!" Mei yelled, "He can't-"

"Don't you remember what happened with him?" Andre demanded, "Please, Mei, I know you don't like this, but it's-"

"For the best?" Mei cried, "For the best? You want him to live his entire life pent-up and closeted just because-"

Mei froze.

"Yeah," Leon muttered, "It actually is a pretty big reason."

"What happened?" Francis demanded, "Could you please just-"

"No," Hyung Soo said flatly, "It's not our place to tell you."

"Fine," Francis snapped, feeling immensely irritated, "I'll just go find Arthur and ask him myself."

Ignoring the voices of protest, Francis marched out of the living room. He crashed into a startled looking Kiku, before slipping on his shoes and storming out of Yao's warm, cozy apartment.

* * *

11/26/2016

Woohoo! RoChu fluff in this chapter! And, as an added bonus, KoreBel!

If you see any mistakes, feel free to point them out (just please be nice about it).

To the guest who asked about Ameripan… well… kinda. You'll see.


	10. Chapter 10: August? No? Is it Alistair?

"I love you!" Gilbert shouted as he tackled Francis at the door.

"Uh-" Francis said awkwardly, blinking rapidly and breaking free of Gilbert.

Unable to find Arthur, he had plotted for hours, wandering the streets alone. His feet must have led him back to his apartment. The sun was already setting, dying the sky with hues of red, orange and pink.

"Your boyfriend- Arthur- just came and gave us two hundred dollars! Told us it was for the dinner. Said that he had plenty of money- imagine! Then-"

"Arthur came here?" Francis interrupted.

Gilbert shot him an annoyed look, "As Americans say, duh. As I was saying-"

"Which direction was he going in?" Francis demanded.

"Said something about Central Park. Why?"

"Bye!" Francis shouted, turning away and running off, leaving Gilbert confused and annoyed.

Francis's heart beat frantically in his chest as he sped towards Central Park. He had no idea what he was going to say to Arthur, or whether this would succeed or fail. All he knew was that he had to try.

As he entered the park, he sped past children with mothers and fathers. Teenagers were walking while texting on their phones, and a dog was chasing a flying frisbee. Runners sped past, clearly much faster than Francis.

He dashed through the park like a madman, screaming Arthur's name at the top of his lungs. Francis was one hundred percent certain someone was going to call the cops.

"Excuse me, sir?" Someone said in a accented voice, grabbing his arm from behind.

Francis turned to see a young Asian man with spiky hair, glasses, and an apologetic smile. He had on a white button-up shirt. Behind him was an Asian girl with an irritated expression and crossed arms. Her long hair was in a ponytail that looked like Yao's, and she was wearing a green dress. The two looked about college age.

"Keep going on like that," The Asian girl snapped, "And somebody will call the police. Are you looking for your little brother or something?"

"Eh… no," Francis replied, gasping, "I'm looking for my… well… it's complicated. You see-"

"Not interested," The girl said flatly.

"Lien!" The boy protested.

The girl, Lien, sighed, "Aroon, this doesn't matter. We should help this man find his whatever rather than wasting time hearing about his relationship problems." 

The boy, Aroon, nodded, "You're right."

Turning to Francis with a smile, he said, "So… what does this… eh… August... wait… no… is it Alistair?"

Lien frowned, "It's Arthur, isn't it?"

"Oui," Francis said, still trying to recover his breath.

"Okay… what does he look like?" Aroon asked.

"Caucasian," Francis replied, "Green eyes. Punk-style blond hair. Really, really thick eyebrows."

"Hmm…" Lien said, "Grumpy expression?"

"Probably."

"Well," Lien said, "I think I saw him near one of the smaller ponds. It's about 20 to 30 yards from here. The guy was reading on a park bench."

"Merci madame," Francis said, smiling gratefully.

"You're welcome," Lien said.

"Good luck!" Aroon added as Francis took off.

As Francis ran, he suddenly realized he had no idea what to say to Arthur. He was tempted to stop and rehearse a speech. But if he did, Arthur could leave. As a matter of fact, Arthur could already be gone.

And then, he saw him. Sitting on the park bench, in a fancy scarf and tweed jacket, reading a book, was Arthur. Francis heart jumped, and accidentally tripped and fell into in intestine (or somewhere like that). That must have been why Francis felt so weird in the stomach. Or was he sick? Butterflies, maybe?

Swallowing, he approached Arthur, his heart beating rapidly.

Standing in front of Arthur, who was still buried in his book, Francis summoned up his courage and weakly said,

"Bonjour."

Arthur looked up, his face transforming into one of horror.

"Arthur," Francis begged, hesitantly putting his hand on Arthur's shoulder, "Please. Let's… let's take this somewhere private."

Arthur, his eyes wide and breaths frantic, managed a barely audible, "Fine."

"Merci," Francis whispered, trying to figure out where they should go. Antonio hated Arthur, and the Wang's would freak out. Surely there was somewhere in the park…

"I-I know a place," Arthur stammered, "It's… in the park."

"Okay," Francis said, smiling a relieved smile, "Lead the way."

* * *

12/6/2016

And FrUK is back!

法国x英国 forever!

The Asian couple that helped Francis was Vietnam and Thailand! I started shipping them after I read one strip featuring them… ehehe…

Anyways, it's going to be Christmas in a little more than two weeks! Yay! 圣诞节快乐！


	11. Chapter 11: Merci

"Wait up!" Francis gasped, "Why are you running so fast-"

"I'm due home in one hour," Arthur hissed, his face still a bit pale despite the run, "Now shut up, bloody frog!"

Francis tried to give Arthur a smirk, but he was too busy trying to keep up.

Finally, Arthur stopped in front of a several white rose bushes.

Francis skidded to a stop, gasping with relief and trying to recover his breath.

"If you don't want to do this-" He began.

"Shut up!" Arthur snapped, "Just follow me, you wanker!"

"Is 'wanker' an insult word?" Francis wondered.

"Obviously," Arthur growled, walking towards an open gap in the rose bushes. Francis hurried to follow him.

"But what exactly does it mean? Some sort of term you English people use for Frenchmen?"

"Why don't you use the research skills you've hopefully learned at ERU and look the word up?"

"Can't you just tell me?" Francis whined.

"We're here," Arthur said abruptly, coming to a sudden stop, causing Francis to collide into him.

Arthur yelped, and shoved Francis back. Francis stumbled, his balance teetering. In a desperate attempt to stabilize himself, he reached out and grabbed Arthur's waist, accidentally pulling ARthur towards him.

Arthur, panicking and teetering too, threw his arms around Francis.

Of course, it wasn't actually that romantic. Their foreheads collided sharply, causing both of them to yelp in pain. Arthur glared at him, his green eyes bright with fury.

Trying to save his dignity, Francis hurriedly smirked and said, "Like what you see?"

"Frog," Arthur growled, shoving Francis away.

Francis smiled, looking around, "So where are we?"

The two stood in a grove with a tiny pond and a rusted bench. Overhead, the sunlight was filtered due to tall trees that stood in a semicircle. The rest of the grove's border was made out of white rose bushes.

"A place that I found," Arthur mumbled.

"It's very beautiful," Francis offered.

"Thank you," Arthur muttered, "Why don't we sit down?"

Francis nodded. He and Arthur sat on the rusted bench. Despite it's age, it was actually pretty comfortable.

"So," Arthur said, turning to Francis, "What was it you wanted to speak with me about?"

Despite Arthur's attempts to rein in his emotions, Francis could tell that the Brit was scared. His lips was pressed in a thin line, and his face was deathly white.

"I wanted to apologize," Francis whispered, staring deeply into ARthur's eyes.

"P-pardon?"

"I shouldn't have been so… blunt about things at Delmonico's. I understand that you have your limits, and I want to respect them. Nothing should be forced upon anyone if they don't want to do it. So… will you please forgive me?"

"I-" Arthur stammered, "I- well… of course! I mean… we all make mistakes! It's fine… you're kinda- argh!"

Francis smiled at him while he rambled on, feeling relieved.

" _Merci_ ," He whispered.

Arthur stopped his rambling, apparently having heard Francis.

After a moment of silence, Arthur finally murmured,

"Thank you."

"Why?" Francis asked, feeling confused. He hadn't done anything special.

"F-for caring about what I feel," Arthur said, "No one else really did. My father- he isn't the most supportive person in the world."

Arthur froze, inhaling rapidly.

Francis gently placed his hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"So you father didn't support your choices?"

Arthur shook his head quickly, "No! I mean- I just did what he told me to. It's my brothers- they…"

Arthur trailed off, staring up ahead.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Francis murmured, "I'm always here if you need someone to talk to."

Arthur nodded gratefully.

"Give me your arm," He said, after taking a couple of deep breaths.

Francis allowed Arthur to take his arm in both hands, while staring at him quizzically.

Arthur rolled up Francis's sleeves, his mere touch sending a chill down the Frenchman's spine. Then, taking out a pen from his pocket, Arthur wrote something on Francis's arm in an elegant script.

"It's my phone number," Arthur snapped, "We can't have you running around the park screaming for me again."

"How did you-"

"A couple of lady joggers were talking about a crazy man with a stubble and chin-length hair running around screaming for an "Alistair."

"Oh," Francis said, turning bright red.

"They were debating calling the police," Arthur continued, "Don't know why they didn't. But…" He stared directly into Francis's eyes with a smirk, "I'm glad they didn't."

Francis blushed, smiling back at Arthur.

"Well…" Francis smirked, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind having my phone number."

It was Arthur's turn to blush.

"Here," He said, holding out his book, Pride and Prejudice, "Write it on the inside cover."

Taking Arthur's pen from him, Francis hurriedly scrawled his phone number on the inside cover.

"Your handwriting is beautiful," Arthur complimented.

" _Merci_ ," Francis purred, "You know what else is beautiful?"

Arthur groaned, smacking him in the face.

"Not this pickup line again!" Arthur groaned, "All of my brothers except for one uses it! I'm bloody sick of it!"

"I was about to say 'me'" Francis muttered, earning him another light-hearted smack.

"Well," Arthur said, standing up, looking a bit reluctant, "I suppose I must go now. Wouldn't want to miss supper."

Francis smiled, " _Au revoir, mon petit lapin_!"

Arthur smiled back, though his smile was faint, "Goodbye, frog. I'll be expecting you here Tuesday?"

Then he left the grove, his scarf fluttering in the wind.

It took Francis a couple of seconds to snap out of his shock.

"D-did he just ask me out on a date?" He asked a squirrel.

The squirrel chucked a nut at his head.

"I do believe he did," Francis said, "I do believe he did."

* * *

12/10/2016

I fail at romantic human interactions. Both in writing and real life.

Ah, well. I'll make up for it with interesting non-romantic interactions!

And it's only a little more than two weeks until Christmas! And Christmas break! Huzzah!


	12. Chapter 12: Blue salvia

Francis was still buzzing with excitement as he reached his apartment and let himself in. He was so excited, he didn't even notice that there was a pair of dark slippers next to the door.

Gilbert was nowhere to be found, which was nothing new. But there were two surprises.

First, even though it was noon, Antonio was not taking a siesta. As a matter of fact, he was sitting at the dining table, very much awake and glaring at Francis.

Second, Yao was there, sitting next to Antonio. 

The second he saw Francis, Yao flew into a rage.

"What the hell were you thinking?" The petite Chinese man demanded, "Hyung-Soo told me you were going after Arthur! Did you go to his house?"

"Wha-?"

Yao grabbed Francis's shirt.

"Did you or didn't you go to his house?" Yao yelled, shoving his face up to Francis's.

Despite his petite frame, Yao was strong, shockingly so. With their close contact, Francis could feel strong muscles.

"Non," Francis whispered.

Yao breathed a sigh of relief, letting go of Francis.

"Relax, amigo," Antonio said, his voice unusually hard, "Even if Francis did end up-"

Yao spun around, glaring at Antonio, "Do you want another-"

"Of course not," Antonio said, "But you know, Arthur could always leave-"

"You don't understand," Yao snapped, "Some people… they just can't. That doesn't make them a bad person, but they need help."

"And what a 'help' you've been," Antonio said sarcastically.

Francis felt deeply disturbed. He had never seen this dark side of Antonio before.

"I'm trying!" Yao screamed, "Every anniversary I try to find him… once, he nearly-"

"Okay, amigo," Antonio said, raising his hands, "I get it."

"No, you don't!" Yao shouted, "Have you ever lost anyone? Your parents are both alive in Spain. All your younger siblings are doing some sort of aid program in Latin America, and they're all well! Lovino's okay, so is Feli- but Arthur-"

"You act like you understand," Antonio snapped, "What do you know? Always acting so pretentious-"

"I do know."

Yao's voice had changed from loud and furious to flat and cold.

"Did you know that Lovi and Feli had an uncle? His name was Romulus. He was only 13 when they were born, of course. His sister- she was only 12- had been messing around. Going to parties. Her parents almost threw her out, but he stopped them.

"The parents ended up drinking and gambling. Romulus tried, but he started getting into trouble. Then his little sister died in a car accident when she was 17. The parents were deadbeat. Wanted to give Feli and Lovi up to child services. Romulus took them in.

"We met at the supermarket. I suppose we were kindred spirits- I was trying to raise all of my younger siblings, he was trying to raise Feli and Lovi. We were both young, with dreams of our own but a sense of duty. Our parents had abandoned us.

"We ended up falling in love. And despite all of our problems, we were happy. Truly, honestly happy. He used to bring me blue salvia flowers all the time. You understand that, don't you, Antonio? Love? But do you know what it's like to lose someone? Because if you did, maybe you would be slower to dismiss my family and I. Maybe you wouldn't be as scornful of Arthur. And maybe you will be able to understand why we do the things we do."

Antonio remained silent.

Yao sighed wistfully. He was gazing out the window, his eyes fixated on the horizon.

"But," Yao murmured, smiling sadly, "I'm glad that you don't."

"Yao…" Francis whispered.

The Chinese man sighed, "Be careful with Arthur. And that goes for both of you."

Turning, he left the apartment, closing the door softly.

* * *

12/10/2016

And now a cameo from… past RomeChu!

I changed Rome's relationship to Feli and Lovi to make room for this ship. They're so cute together! Of course, RoChu is absolutely adorable as well! You see the hard choice I have to make here?

Sometimes I feel like China's the character that I sorta ship with everyone (India and China, Iggy and China, Mongolia and China, etc.)

But RoChu still wins the prize!


	13. Chapter 13: He needs to see a therapist!

Francis groaned, slumping into a chair.

"That's like, the third time Yao's done that this week!"

"Done what?" Antonio asked, springing up and walking to the stuffed kitchen.

"Given a long and dramatic monologue! And then- like, leaving it off at a- gah! What's the word?"

"Cliffhanger?" Antonio suggested.

"Yes!" Francis shouted, "I don't think this is normal!"

"It's probably not."

"He needs to see a therapist about this!"

"He'd never admit he needs help."

Francis frowned, " _Oui_ , you're right. But about this guy Yao was talking about-"

"Never heard of him," Antonio said flatly, "Lovinito never mentioned him. But speaking of _mi tomate-_ " Antonio magically went from dark to his normal, cheerful personality, "We're having a date tonight!"

"Wonderful!" Francis sang, "Let us spread the _amor_!"

" _Si_!," Antonio grinned, "I'll make churros first, though!"

" _Ouais_!"

"You know," Antonio said, beaming, "Do you think I could propose to him sometime? I mean, I know I'm only 21 and he's only 19, and we've only been together for a year- but I think this is love!"

"Go for it!" Francis encouraged.

"Don't go for it!" Gilbert yelled, his voice muffled. He sounded like he was standing outside the door.

"And why is this door broken?"

* * *

12/16/2016

Gah, China! Please start talking like a normal person! Enough with the monologues! No more, no more! Until an epic moment towards the end!

I'll figure out another way to give exposition.

And about the broken door, well, China slammed it, didn't he? I mean, I've always had this headcanon that he's the second manliest character (Hungary's the first). It's kinda confirmed, canonically. Chin broken through a wall, and even America, who drags cars around for "exercise" couldn't hold him back! Plus he's had 4,000+ years to work out and become a better fighter!


End file.
